... that have extensive experience with the oil business AND extensive experience with government bureaucracy and agency interaction.
President Obama could easily call on them to bring their expertise into play instead of an ex-governor, an academic physicist, and others who are obviously out of their depth.
The men are George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
I would pay to hear their advice ;o) Anybody know how many shares of BP stock the Bin Laden family owns? Bush? Saudis?
GW Bush ran an oil company, wrecked it, and left investors holding the bag. You are a funny guy.
The top in the field are contracted with BP you idiot.
In reality, I won't be surprised to see that, quietly, behind the scenes, both men have been talked to. "HeyBub" But we won't know about it for at least another 5-6 years. It isn't in either side's political best interests to make those conversations public.
And further-more, if either thinks they have an answer, they can probably make a phone call if it matters to them.
The Obama-hate is ruining the Republican party. Even more-so than the Bush-hate drove the loudest Dems over the edge.
As I saw posted by the right for 8 years-- 'get over it. . .you lost'.
Jim
43 and 41 Are Tweedledee And Tweedledumb.
43 and 41 Are Tweedledee And Tweedledumb.
==========
And they named the smart one Jeb. I believe it was George Carlin who reminded us of this sad fact.
George was KIDDING when he said Jeb was the smart one.
But actually, Jeb *is* the smarter of the brothers.
In their hearts they know it was Bush who got us into wars that are bankrupting us and whose theories about the "free market" prevailed right up to the end - when Bush was forced to bail out AIG with a gigantic "nothing free market about it" check from the US taxpayers.
Call Bush for help? I am sure part of the problem lies right at his feet because he was well-known for his anti-regulatory stance and for leaving agencies "headless" as a way of pulling their teeth.
He was also from an oil family who doubtless saw government regulations as horrendously intrusive. Repubs have decried regulation for a long time, yet that's all that often stands between safe stewardship of the environment and wrecks like the BP spill. Read this if you want some idea of what the US would look like if we had no government regulations at all, which seems to be what at least some people seem to seriously propose from time to time:
If you need any proof that oil-drilling Texans hate the rest of the country as much as they love their oil, check out Joe Barton's (R. Tex) flowery apology to Gulf-killer Tony Hayward:
The fund was put in place to help avoid the possibility that BP will attempt to distribute any cash hanging around just before they file for bankruptcy. While a week ago that seemed far fetched, the possibility of BP being prosecuted to the max criminally is now a serious one. Their safety record will probably be the thing that hangs them. They've killed through negligence before. That pretty much pre-empts the "It was an accident defense." As for actually collecting from BP, I say dream on, Gulf staters:
While I feel badly for the shareholders, they took the profits when they were flowing, and now they'll have to take the losses, too. If the US yanks their Federal oil leases, BP might not survive, especially if the Feds push for criminal liability and the maximum penalties (nearly $5K for every barrel of leaked oil - no WONDER they are seriously underestimating the flow).
At every turn BP has been trying to minimize the amount of damage, even incredulously reporting in the first few days that "no oil was leaking."
The Feds could also ban BP from Federal contracts, which usually results in states also banning them. The thing that burns most people, it seems to me, is the outright lies about the quantity of oil leaking from the very beginning. I have a feeling that it's been so much oil that it will make its way to the Gulf stream and off to Merry Olde England, especially if the high end estimates turn out to be right.
-- Bobby G.
I own some BP stock. You might call me one of the pensioners that will be hurt by Obama's attack on BP. I didn't vote for him, but now I'm not going to vote for him a second time ;)
I'm sure there are some fishermen down south who find these pension comments pretty shallow, especially if the comments come from twits who invested too much of their money in one stock.
Isn't that pretty much the text illustration of damning with faint praise (g).
Yes. But at one time, he actually looked like a genius. Then he changed his mind. I suspect that a close look at his personal finances would reveal the reason. I wonder when we'll task the NSA to monitor our elected barnacles the same way they spy on overseas bad guys.
Let's see. One was at the same meeting as bin Laden's brother on 9/11, and the other was a failed oilman.
Attack!? You must be with Joe Barton who apologized to BP for being held accountable. . .
Amen! I can't even imagine what it must be like to see the place a fisherman [and maybe 5-6 generations before him/her] have used as a playland & source of their lively-hood turned into an oil pit. They won't just lose some dividends for a year or so- they'll lose their boat, their home, their second car & every toy they own.
I'll bet the families of the 11 guys who died are feeling a bit pinched, too.
I don't hold any animosity for BP. They got caught cutting corners & from what I've seen they aim to try to make things as good as they can---- But the whiners who are bitching because their stock dumped & they'll miss a dividend can kiss my ass. If you can't take that hit you should put your money in something other than stocks.
Jim
I said "some BP stock" which I think is less than 100 shares. Loss will not cripple me.
The June 21 issue of Time has a brief piece about a criminal trial in India that brought in verdicts on June 7. In 1984, 26 freaking years ago, Union Carbide had a toxic gas release that killed fifteen freaking thousand people in Bhopal. In 1985, the Indian gov't. sued for $3.3b. In 1898 they settled for $470m. The seven UC employees found guilty were sentenced to 2 years in jail. And the freaking American public takes issue when a European uses the term "small people" rather than American slang. What piggies. American's care more about Michael Jackson's plastic surgery than they do answers to energy supplies :o)
Of course SS has already gone bankrupt semi-officially and will pay most of us a negative rate of return on our money over the course of our lives. Even at the trough of this market, there has never been a 20-year period since WWII where the S&P has paid less than 8% annualized. If you put the same amount of money into a tax advantaged account that was entirely in stocks, you would be much further ahead than you will be SS. Add in dividends (and the impact of compounding interest) and you would have been much better off putting the money in stocks or other investments.
-snip-
I think that's more the 'American media'- than the people at large. It is a price we pay for a media that is driven by greed, rather than principle. Controversy sells papers.
Last night's local news had a call-in poll. They wanted to know how many folks thought BP's 'offering of $20billion was going to be enough' to fix things. The way it was worded & the multiple answers they supplied gave no way of replying that - 'No, I don't think it will cover it- but I have confidence that when the $20 is spent, BP will toss some more in the pot.'
What country do you live in where MJ wouldn't trump energy supplies for the front page?
Jim
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